Ambedkar Quotes

“This was a different experience from that of the nationalist elite. Gandhi may have travelled third class on trains out of conviction, but Ambedkar did so out of necessity. Nehru and his companions may have been able to give up their government jobs or connections with government institutions such as courts because they had the assurance that wealthy, often landlord families could continue to support the rest of their relatives.”
― Gail Omvedt, Ambedkar

“As I walked to the Barnard main gate, I saw sharply dressed young couples lining up to take photos in front of the huge Ambedkar poster. That's when it finally stuck me: Ambedkar was an icon, a celebrity for Dalits.”
― Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit: A Memoir

“As a sign of utmost gratitude for his contributions to the Indian society in restoring equal rights of the citizens, I confer him (B.R. Ambedkar) the title “Martin Luther King Jr. of India.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurons, Oxygen & Nanak

“Attacking the supposedly ‘moral’ critique of the love of money and worldly goods, he argued that ‘at a time when the whole world was living in “pain economy” … and when the productivity of human labour was extremely low … it is but natural that moralists should have preached the gospel of poverty and renunciation of worldly pleasures only because they were not to be had”
― Gail Omvedt, Ambedkar

“Introducing the draft


Constitution of India on 4 November 1948, Ambedkar had said:


What is the village but a sink of localism, a den of


ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism? I am


glad that the Draft Constitution has discarded the village


and adopted the individual as its unit.”
― Harsh Madhusudan, A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State

“Both for society as well as for the individual there is a gulf between merely living and living worthily. In order that one may live worthily one must first live. How then can a life of culture be made possible? It is not possible unless there is sufficient leisure. For it is only when there is leisure that a person is free to devote himself to a life of culture. The problem of all problems which human society has to face is how to provide leisure to every individual. What does leisure mean? Leisure means the lessening of the toil and effort necessary for satisfying the physical wants of life. How can leisure be made possible? Leisure is quite impossible unless some means are found whereby the toil required for producing goods necessary to satisfy human needs is lessened. What can lessen such toil? Only when machine takes the place of man. There's no other means of producing leisure. Machinery and modern civilization are thus indispensable for emancipating man from leading the life of a brute, and providing him with leisure and making a life of culture possible. The man who condemns machinery and modern civilization simply does not understand their purpose and the ultimate aim which human society must strive to achieve.”
― B. R. Ambedkar

“Both for society as well as for the individual there is a gulf between merely living and living worthily. In order that one may live worthily one must first live. How then can a life of culture be made possible? It is not possible unless there is sufficient leisure. For it is only when there is leisure that a person is free to devote himself to a life of culture. The problem of all problems which human society has to face is how to provide leisure to every individual. What does leisure mean? Leisure means the lessening of the toil and effort necessary for satisfying the physical wants of life. How can leisure be made possible? Leisure is quite impossible unless some means are found whereby the toil required for producing goods necessary to satisfy human needs is lessened. What can lessen such toil? Only when machine takes the place of man. There's no other means of producing leisure. Machinery and modern civilization are thus indispensable for emancipating man from leading the life of a brute, and providing him with leisure and making a life of culture possible. The man who condemns machinery and modern civilization simply does not understand their purpose and the ultimate aim which human society must strive to achieve.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, What Congress And Gandhi Have Done To Untouchables